RIP, Greg Kihn, who did a cameo at the end. Permitting Weird Al to parody his song didn't detract from his own; it prompted me to rediscover the original Jeopardy. I love both.
Many credit Weird Al for the reboot of Jeopardy! in 1984 with Alex Trebek that not only is still running after Trebek's death but is still going strong as it begins it's FIFTH decade in September (now with Ken Jennings and Mayam Bilalik (sp?) hosting).
I worked on this video in 1984 as first assistant director. Shooting it was a riot! A few insights into the production: Evertime the picture cuts, it jumps. The reason was that the negative was pasted together and edited with cement rather than editing the transferred video, for whatever reasons. It was shot on a small stage on the corner of La Brea and Melrose in L.A. owned by Ray Manzarek, the famous keyboard player for The Doors. The stage entrance is featured at the end of the video where Weird Al dives in the car. We shot tons of videos there including those by the Stray Cats. Art Fleming (in video) was the original host of Jeopardy from 1964 to 1975 and 1978 to 1979. When the show was revived in 1983 by Merv Griffin, there was some sort of rift between Fleming and Griffin, and Fleming told me he wasn't happy with the outcome.
I love how everybody was into this, including Dr. Demento and Greg Kihn. Just seems like everybody had fun back then. I don’t think Kanye or Cardi B. would join in mocking themselves like this.
The beauty of this video is that they used a good replica of the original “Jeopardy!” set, the actual host and announcer appeared as themselves, actual game show prizes were shown and identified by their real names, and the singer of the real song that this parodied (Greg Kihn) drives the car at the end, just as he did in his song’s video (“I Was In Jeopardy”.) In 1984 it was great to see that all these people were in on the joke and participated.
Ok, that last part was cool. I wondered if the people in the car had any significance, and you answered that question. The other things you mentioned were great too but that last one really hit home.
Fun fact: he's not referring to the current Jeopardy, he's talking about the Jeopardy that ran between 1964 to 1975, before being canceled. Jeopardy was back on the air in 1984, and it's actually believed that this song contributed to Jeopardy returning that year.
Absolutely, if I'm not mistaken, Merv Griffin who owned the rights said that the popularity of this video heavily influenced his decision to "reboot" the franchise.
@@danculbert6349 you dont see it very often whether it be in a movie or a tv show or a video unless its someone who is so recognizable it would be a sin to get someone else to play it
It was great seeing Dr. Demento as one of the cameramen. Took me a millisecond to realize who that was. Very cool. Dr. Demento gave Al his start and Al put him in a music video. I like Al. He seems like a really cool guy.
Some fun trivia to impress your friends: 1. Don Pardo was a guest vocal in this song. He was the announcer of Jeopardy in the year 1964-1975 2. The parents depicted at 2:36 were Al's actual parents 3. At the end, after Al is thrown into the convertible, he is driving away through Lynwood, CA, his home city
RIP Greg Kihn. I enjoyed listening to your morning drive show in San Jose for many, many years. Of course, your biggest hits (The Breakup Song and Jeopardy) were great as well. You'll be missed!
Greg Kihn couldn't have been more amazing about the song and video, especially when other musicians get bent out of shape when one of their songs gets the Weird Al parody treatment. They just don't write like that anymore.
The thing that I love that most people don't realize is that he's had the same band from the beginning. Most bands don't last 30 years; much less one named after the singer.
+Rabid Rabbit Rabbi Might be because in a lot of their music videos they go through a fair whack of costumes. But yeah, it is pretty cool that they've stuck together for so long, and really speaks for how they get along
BloodBrandy And you just know Al has had many meetings where some corporate douche would try to pursuade Al into just using a studio band. Just so they could save money money by using their studio musicians already on payroll and not have to sign contracts to 3 extra guys. "You don't really _need_ these guys, do you? If you just agree to use our studio musicians then we'd have enough in the budget to double your share of the contract. You're _Weird Al_, you're all that _really_ matters! Keeping those other guys around will just weigh you down." It really shows a lot of integrity that most lead singers don't keep after being in the spotlight for 30 years. Okay, I'm done sucking Weird Al's cock now.
I was his stunt double diving into the car. Fun shoot. Greg Kihn was actually in the car when I did it. They did not use a stand in for him. I used a mini trampoline and had to do it twice.
@@New3DSLuigi364 his bet was actually a strategic attempt to win. He knew (or guessed correctly) the 1st place contestant would wager enough to win even if James doubled his bet, so by betting small he had a chance to win the game even if he (and 1st place) got the question wrong because he would still have more than the 3rd place contestant if that contestant got the question right. Also, almost certainly I would think he would want to take down Ken Jennings consecutive win record.
That's the opposite of true. Plumbers can make good money with less than a year of study. People who complain about needing an advanced degree for employment are typically in the humanities and have no practical skills.
@@sswpp8908 You do however, need at minimum a bachelors in order to have any hope for success in STEM fields, such as computer science. For reference, I am saying this, and I am not in the humanities. I am in computer science; which has VERY practical skills. Sure, it's hyperbole to say that you need a PHD to become a plumber, but it's also fair satire of many employers' current dependency upon higher education.
@@sswpp8908 I think the joke is that they studied for something else, but then they became a plumber because they couldn't break into any college-educated careers.
ISTR that the song was released only months before the Trebek version debuted in Sep 1984. Although the show was not in production at the time, Art Fleming was still quite a familiar face.
My guess is that it’s because they don’t want their ideals of prestigiousness undermined by giving a spot to, by all accounts, a comedy artist. The most famous comedy artist in the world, but a comedy artist nevertheless. But that obviously says more about the Rock Hall of Fame than it does about Al himself; the people who run the place seem quite snooty, to put it delicately
@@bullmonty764What a shame. Besides being a phenomenal comedian, Al is a brilliant musician who brought laughter and music to many and often outshined the original. He absolutely deserves a spot. He’s a comedian, and that doesn’t make him any less of a musician! Musical comedy IS music!
RIP Merv Griffin; creator of "Jeopardy!" and composer of the think music, Don Pardo; announcer of the show, Art Fleming; original host of the show, and now Alex Trebek; host of the show.
The way the crew is singing "I lost on Jeopardy" kind of makes it seem like if you lose on Jeopardy, you are cursed to have to work for the show for eternity.
Who's here because one of the clues in today's season finale of "Jeopardy!", guested hosted by Joe Buck, concerns this video and Art Fleming and Don Pardo's participation in it?
That's because the older generation set the bar for those kinds of insults very low on November 8th 2016 by electing a certain guy (who says these kinds of things) for a certain position,
I love that Greg is in the last shot of the video. I was lucky enough to meet and talk with Greg back in the late 1990's when he still had his show on KUFX (San Jose). He is the nicest person and wants to hear what you have to say. He is a good guy. I'm lucky to have met him.
+Tim Jeppesen I was on-air talent at a Nor Cal radio station that gave Greg's stuff lots of airplay long before he was top 40, and I've been to at least 6 Greg Kihn concerts. About a year ago, Greg followed my twitter account! I was flattered he remembered me, I was just one of millions of his fans @gringotj
Al has done some great work over the years but this is still one of his best. The production values, the guest stars (Art Fleming, Don Pardo, Greg Kihn and Dr. Demento) and all of the extras, the song itself - amazing work.
Quite nostalgic as the set was a replica or the original Jeopardy game that ran from 1964 until 1975 with original host Art Fleming and sidekick Don Pardo who lived to be 96 and was with NBC for 70 years.
Twisted Sister no longer wear their drag, Weird Al looks respectable, Cyndi Lauper no longer has the vari-coloured hair, Madonna doesn't wear her underwear outside anymore...it is like all these great musicians have, I don't know, changed and evolved with the passing of 30-40 years...
+Film Producer that could be said for every cover artist and parody artist ever, but, even with that advantage, most times they're not able to make a product as good as the original. I don't know why, but Weird Al is able to overshadow the original almost every time and that's fucking impressive.
Andrew Nava Introverts actually are pretty good at speeches, they just are not very fond of talking to a large audience though they can do so just like any extrovert, just be prepared to be shut out until they can fully recharge if needed
You will probly never see this But I saw weird al In wild adventures Them park Valdosta Georgia . Out doors he walked all the way out to were i was shoke my hand ( wife 6 kids LOL coolest thing of my life .
I saw him at his New Orleans stop! Did the meet and greet and got his autograph. I hope he comes here again, it would be my third time seeing him live.
You aren't kidding. Within a year after this vid originally hit the Chicago market, the "2.0" (fronted by Alex Trebek and airing in first-run syndication) premiered.
Sort of like the parody to Dire Straits Money for Nothing. Mark Knopfler agreed to it on one condition and that was that he be allowed to play on the recording. Since Knoplfler is one of the best guitar payers out there it was a no brainer.
As has probably been said a million times, this guy is a genius. I can't listen to any of the originals without then listening to Al's. What a blast this guy brings to music. There was, is, and will be only one Al. Thanks for the years of laughter and joy.
I once knew an answer on Jeopardy (what is the pancreas) that none of the contestants knew, because of Al's song Pancreas. Now Trebek sadly has pancreatic cancer. The universe is strange.
They didn't know what a pancreas is? Isn't the digestive system part of compulsory education of most developed countries? One can't know everything, and it's perfectly okay to be ignorant about stuff, as long as one keeps learning, but it is really weird that 3 people (or whatever the amount of players in a game of Jeopardy is) in the same room can't answer a question about something that was taught to them at school and is about a topic that is not at all obscure. My reply doesn't have anything to do with the victims of pancreatic cancer, and is not meant to be offensive or condescending, but rather an expression of curiosity towards the strange situation portrayed in the comment I'm replying to and an invitation for people to clarify my wonder.
@@festerdam4548 I'm sure they all knew what the pancreas is, but Jeopardy clues can be quite specific bits of knowledge sometimes. I just looked up the archive and the ($2000) clue was "This gland's main duct, the duct of Wirsung, collects its juices & empties into the duodenum."
I've known this song forever and I heard the original today driving home and I started cracking up. I thought this was one of his originals, I had no idea it was a cover.
@@ronburgundy244 potpourri: a mixture of dried petals and spices placed in a bowl or small sack to perfume clothing or a room Basically something you'd find on a shelf in a Pier 21 and having very little to do with mathematics lol
I love all the trivia and info that people in the comments are providing. It really contextualizes songs that I've been listening to since I was a kid making them feel almost new. Thanks guys. Also, R.I.P to everyone in the video who has died.
Yep, why I thought of this. *sigh* Safe to say he "had a good run", but it could never have been long enough. I'll take "The Afterlife" for $200, Alex.
Still one of the funniest music videos ever! Everybody takes part in the chorus. The waving towards the end gets me rolling Everytime! Kudos to Greg Kihn for the Cameo at the end ☺👍
+Jordy Garcia ... im still trying to figure out why any one ( generally speaking ) would want to "limit themselves" so severely? Why yearn to be an animal when Humans have more abilities and sense the animals do not have? Why give away a Space Shuttle in trade for a old beat up Volksvaggen Wabbit? Al is a Human Spirit i think maybe. just a Human Spirit that also contains some animal abilities but most important of all is Unique Human abilities such as Al's. I'm still trying to figure out why people want to trade being human for a crappy old broken down VW Bug by yearning about animal spirits? edit?: just because someone "saw" a shape of an animal (moving-bad-thing; Latin Ani-Mal root word) ... that does not mean animals can build spaceships and build telescopes or that animals know jack-all about anything. Sorry to have to burst anyones bubbles. All in good fun. ?;-)
+Mynnia Ignea Agreed. Common thing, people saying some sort of inept mess, droning on about gibberish and saying something like 'sorry to disappoint', making it doubly pathetic.
Also one of those has to be a guy who has Al's LAST NAME. Which makes how bad he did even worse if he missed that one. ESPECIALLY since in doing so he "brought shame on his family name for generations to come." Al's a comic genius.
My late mother got crushed on Jeopardy! in 1974 and we did in fact get the twenty-volume set of the Encyclopedia International. Pretty nice set of books and I read them often!
Greg, so young, vibrant, and successful. Before he knew it, he's fighting to remember all those memories. Life was rewarding for Greg. Then oh so cruel. Stay safe and healthy everyone.
Amazing that they brought in Art Fleming and Don Pardo for this video. I watched the '60s and '70s version of Jeopardy! and this is what it looked like.
As a form or Carbondale resident, I have to say, said architect lost his job, in the 2008 Great Recession and now manager’s a local Starbucks. Do the Saluki strut!
You musta heard the one about the plumber and the doctor right? Doctor's got a dripping faucet, so he calls the plumber. Plumber comes in and it's an easy job: coupla washers and the shutoffs are under the sink. 15 minutes later the job is done. Plumber presents the doctor with a bill. $150. Doctor says, "That's outrageous. $150 for 15 minutes of work. Hell, that's more than I make!" Plumber thinks and says, "Yeah, I know. I used to be one..." Badabing!
